Heart disease (cardiomyopathy) can cause a patient to exhibit symptoms of congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF is a result of the weakening of the heart's cardiac function characterized by reduced pumping capacity and efficiency. Chronic cardiac rhythm problems can also be the result of cardiomyopathy. The modification of the heart's structure that causes the reduction in pumping capacity also causes modification of the heart's electrical characteristics. The heart's electrical pathways can become stretched out of shape and chemically damaged. This makes arrhythmias much more likely to occur in CHF patients.
Implantation of a pacemaker is a preferred method of treatment for arrhythmias in CHF patients. Although many types of heart problems may require a pacer, one method of treatment suited for CHF patients is known as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). CRT uses a pacemaker with multiple pacing leads to coordinate the heart's four chambers to act together in a sequence that will pump blood more efficiently.
It is likely that CRT candidates will have various forms of cardiomyopathy, and these patients may exhibit other measurable symptoms of reduced cardiac function besides arrhythmia. The reduced cardiac function of the heart is taken into account when applying CRT in order to tailor the treatment based on the needs of a particular patient. Various external factors must also be taken into account by the pacing system, one of those factors being the current state of activity of the patient.
Rate adaptive pacemakers are currently used that can estimate body activity by detecting body activity or breathing rate and depth, and therefore modify the pacing rate applied to the heart. These indicators can give a rough estimate of metabolic demand for a given patient. It would be beneficial to have more accurate measures of metabolic demand, especially measures that can determine the pumping capacity and pumping efficiency of a heart in order to measure and improve the efficacy of the therapy for the CHF patient.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present specification, there is a need in the art for improved ventricular monitoring and therapy control. There exists a further need for a pacing system that provides a means of measuring cardiac workload and efficiency in order to offer more effective treatment for CHF patients. The present invention fulfills these and other needs, and provides several advantages over prior systems and techniques.